The world of edibles has long been dominated by pot brownies and the legendary, astronomic, spacecake. But if you’ve ever sat in an Amsterdam coffeeshop with a pre-wrapped space cake/brick of indeterminate origin and tried to wash it down, you might wonder why bother?
The good news is that making a cake — including one that will get you baked — is quite simple, and the final product is almost certain to be better than commercial baked dough lumps.
Here’s how to have your weed, and bake it into a cake too.
Why should I bake a weed cake and not just smoke a joint?
You might be wondering why bother with the trouble of making edibles when your normal method of getting high is to light up a joint and experience the THC rush almost instantly. This makes sense, especially since you must account for the hour or more it takes to feel the effects of edices and the high that may take much longer to go away.
Edibles aren’t meant to take the place of joints, and the experiences aren’t comparable. Edibles provide a distinct high and can be a welcome change of pace from smoking. They may also be used as a fun way to entertain guests or as the ideal present for someone who isn’t fond of smoking marijuana but is interested in learning more about it.
Are edibles for everyone? Maybe not for everyone, but they do create a unique, powerful, full-body high that often leaves a big grin on your face like a kid who just got the biggest piece of birthday cake and doesn’t want to share.
Common edibles mistakes
Stop us if you’ve heard this one: A would-be spacecake astronaut takes a big bite of fluffy, cannabis-infused cake and… nothing happens. They decide to take another bite — or two — about an hour later, only to discover that the initial dose is working and there is no rescue shuttle on its way.
It’s easy to make this mistake with edibles, and even some veterans fall into the trap. Keep in mind that edibles may take two or three hours to fully affect you. Take your time and start with a small dose; wait at least one hour and a half before eating again.
Forgetting to decarboxylate your cannabis before making edibles is another frequent blunder. The cake may still be excellent, but the marijuana will not make you high. Here’s why.
Why decarboxylation is key
Decarboxylation is a method of converting THCA, which is naturally present but somewhat tame, into THC using heat. Smoking cannabis causes decarboxylation to take place instantly, but if you’re eating cannabis, you’ll need to decarb it first. This is a simple procedure that does not require any special equipment or techniques. Simply place your ground cannabis on some foil or a baking sheet in an oven for 30-45 minutes at around 220-245°F (105-120°C).
While it’s hard to beat the pleasure of seeing your strain materialize before your eyes, you might miss out on some of the crop. Make sure there are no windows closed or shutters drawn when decarbing begins so that you may hear and feel it properly. When you’re done decarbing, make sure there is a crack in the window so that you can listen to and enjoy this wonderful aroma!
How to make cannabis oil and cannabutter
Before you’re ready to launch, however, you’ll need to complete one more step — preparing a cannabis infusion.
Cannabinoids, such as THC and CBD, are fat soluble and need to be consumed with a fatty food in order to be broken down by the body.
With a concentrated fat like olive oil, coconut oil, or butter, you may simply replace the oil or butter with your infusion and convert any recipe to a cannabis meal.
While many people would argue that cake should only be prepared with butter, our recipe uses vegetable oil instead.
How to infuse vegetable oil with cannabis
Here’s what you’ll need to make some cannabis oil:
- 1 cup or around 7-14 grams of ground, decarboxylated cannabis
- 1 cup of vegetable oil
- Double-boiler, saucepan, or crockpot
- Storage container
- Cheesecl
The way you infuse your cannabis is completely up to you. The saucepan technique is very easy; simply heat the oil and decarboxylated cannabis in a saucepan at around 130-150°F (55-65°C) for three hours, stirring it frequently to avoid scorching.
Put everything in a slow cooker and cook at the same temperature for around three hours if using a double boiler. If you’re working with a double boiler, simply fill the bottom pan with water and add the cannabis oil to the top portion, stirring frequently until ready.
After each technique, after it’s done cooking, remove the oil from the heat and let it cool. Then strain it through a cheesecloth into a jar. Squeeze the cloth several times to extract all of the oil.
All that is needed now is to put it in a sealed container far out of the reach of any children who may be present.
The potency of cannabis oil is another thing to consider when producing it. If you want a less potent batch, reduce the amount of cannabis used — maybe down to 6 or 7 grams. It’s entirely up to you. Alternatively, you can make a strong batch and then divide the oil into half infused oil and half non-infused oil before using it in a recipe so that it isn’t too powerful. It all depends on your tolerance and how strong you want the cake to be.
The cannabis cake recipe
You could make your own cannabis cake from the ground up, with a 1,000-word backstory on your family history dating back to the Magna Carta’s drafting, or simply modify an existing one.
There are numerous space cake recipes available in the world, but we altered this delicious chocolate cake from Martha Stewart to make it our own. She seems to know her way around baked products, and as a friend and collaborator of Snoop Dogg and a previous convict, we think she can be relied on for just about anything.
How to make chocolate space cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1⁄4 cup cannabis-infused vegetable oil
- 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
- 1.5 cups buttermilk
- 3 cups sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1.5 cups hot water
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8 inch cake pans with butter and line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter paper. Dust them with cocoa.
- In a mixing dish, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. In a mixer set to low speed, beat in the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and hot water until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool on wire racks. Flip the pans over after about 20-30 minutes to remove the cakes, then allow them to cool top side up. One of the cakes has a rather large top; carefully cut off part of it with a serrated knife.
- This stage is a crucial crossroads. You may ice both of the cakes with a frosting recipe of your choice and stack them, or you may go in a completely different direction: Eat the un-iced chocolate cakes as is or with whipped cream or hot fudge topping, or just take a huge chunk and plunk it into a bowl with some ice cream.
However, if you decide to provide the marijuana chocolate cake, keep in mind the wise words of the space cake elders: Don’t go too far. Enjoy a decent-sized portion and allow yourself an hour or so to see what happens.
Relax and enjoy the ride once the space cake takes hold. And don’t be in a rush to return to reality after the space cake kicks in.